


Defeat

by Benedicthiddleston



Category: Star Trek Into Darkness - Fandom, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Scene, Canon Death, Character Death, Gen, Spoilers for Star Trek Into Darkness, different, maybe alternate ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-06
Updated: 2013-06-06
Packaged: 2017-12-14 02:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/831890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benedicthiddleston/pseuds/Benedicthiddleston
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spoilers for Star Trek Into Darkness.</p><p>Kirk can't get out of the main warp reactor. He dies alone; scared; confused; angry. Spock runs after Khan, no closure to be found. Scotty and company make an attempt for their Captain's body. A lot of emotions are tested. </p><p>Alternate scene/ending to STXII.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Defeat

**Author's Note:**

> I saw Star Trek Into Darkness for the 6th time today, and as Kirk's death scene came up, something hit me. What if he never crawled out? What if he couldn't? My stomach didn't like the fact he kind of hits the ground with a ton of force after realigning the warp core. Needless to say, my mind does funny things and I wanted to write an alternate ending.
> 
> Happiness... is definitely not found here. I am so sorry...
> 
> Only a quick edit. No beta.

Everything ached.

His vision blurred as he came back to consciousness. He had slammed into the wall of the warp reactor pretty hard after realigning the core.

He tried to move, but his muscles wouldn’t work. His brain was not connecting. And any slight movement sent pain rippling through out his body with whatever else happened to be functioning.

It was no use. As much as he knew he needed to move, move back to the door, he couldn’t get himself to even try. He was pretty sure his legs were broken, if anything. Or his muscles just wouldn’t respond. He was a little confused, a little unsure of what was going on.  
  
His breathing escalated. He would die exactly where he lay. Scotty would know he had gone in, expect him to at least crawl to the door. If he didn't come out, they would come in. And he didn't want that. He couldn't risk any other lives.  
  
The ship beneath him was stable. It was a miracle of his own doing. He had done one thing right. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, _or the one_. His life for theirs. It is what Spock had been trying to teach him back on Nibiru. But Kirk wouldn’t let Spock die. Not then, and not now.  
  
Kirk felt hot. The blue glow from the core was too bright and blurred frequently as he focused on breathing. It was bad enough to die in pain. It was another to die alone.  
  
 _Spock... I am so sorry. I just wanted you to understand why I saved you. Forgive me. My life is worth my crew. My ship._  
  
Bones... Oh god. No.  
  
He couldn't help it. The thought of Bones finding his body whenever they went looking for it was enough to bring tears to his unfocused eyes. The tears stung and his eyes felt dry and his body sucked of life.  
  
 _Forgive me Scotty. I did it for your own good. I promise._  
  
A pang of guilt hit him square in the chest. And it grew into an ache that seemed to suck the air from his lungs.  
  
He was dying.  
  
Alone.  
  
Confused.  
  
Angry.  
  
Scared.  
  
Everything went black in slow motion as his eyelids dropped. He couldn't think, couldn't move, _couldn't breathe_.  
  
Alone...Scared...  
  
 _Nothing._  
  
*

Scotty struggled in the restraint. "Bloody hell," he muttered, yanking it off.

His eyes were glued to the screen in front of him.  
 __  
Core realigned. Ship stable.  
  
"Shit," he cursed, his eyes darting to the containment door. He knew; he just knew the Captain had gone in there.  
  
A death sentence.  
  
Scotty scrambled to the door, peering in, trying to see if he could see Kirk coming back. Any signs of life. Anything at _all._  
  
Nothing.  
  
"Oh god, no." Scotty regretted the feeling in his stomach. Kirk was dead. Inside the warp core.  
  
"Mr. Scott!" Chekov rounded a corner, eyes wide in excitement. "Ve are stable. Where is the Keptin?"  
  
Scotty turned back to the warp core control panel and hit a comm button.  
  
"Yes," came the response.  
  
"Mr. Spock, you might want to get down here."  
  
Chekov's forehead was furrowed. "Mr. Scott-"  
  
"Captain Kirk went into the warp core. And I have every reason to believe he has died inside."

 

Chekov’s face was utter disbelief. Shock. Fear. Grief.

It was barely a few seconds later when Spock ran up, eyes wide in fear. He just - he knew.  
  
"Open it!"  
  
"The radiation would flood the ship. We would lose everything the Captain gained for us. We can put on suits, but it would take time. Or we wait until the ship docks and we can turn off the core. Either way... He's gone."  
  
Spock felt anger erupt in his chest. Kirk... Kirk was dead.

“Bring down the radiation, we’ll go in, get him, wait out the decontamination timing, and…” Spock couldn’t bring himself to say it. If Kirk was dead… they would have to bury him.

“Captain Spock, _the Vengeance_ has crashed in San Francisco,” an overhead voice blared.

Scotty gulped. “We can do it, Spock. You have to take care of Khan.”

And the look in Spock’s eyes told Scotty that is exactly what he would do. “KHAN!”

*

The radiation had taken forever to get down long enough to slip inside the warp reactor containment cell, let alone even take the struggling walk into the warp core, praying they would find a body to bury.

Scotty, Bones, two engineering crew, and a nurse all had prepped in white radiation resistant suits. They were these huge, uncomfortable, solid cover-wear that took ages to put on, ages to walk around in, and ages to take off. And even with the warp core running, it was dangerous. They had barely minutes to get in, find what they were looking for, and get back to the containment room for decon.

But Scotty wouldn’t have had it any other way. Who knew when the _Enterprise_ would be docked and when the warp core could be turned off. Days, possibly weeks.

And Kirk’s body didn’t have _weeks_. Not when radiation was involved.

 Scotty led the way, being the most familiar with the area. He’d tinkered around all of engineering. The last remodel of the _Enterprise_ had needed significant repairs. The first time the warp core had been manually shut down. It would happen again, very, very soon. Just, not today. The ship was still floating, still breathing. It was enough.

He crawled out of the shaft, glancing around. The warp core was, by a miracle, aligned and running. But that was the least of Scotty’s worries. He needed to find Kirk. _Fast. Post-haste. Now._

He gripped the ledge above him, levered himself up, and stopped short.

Kirk’s eyes were closed. His face absent of pain, fear, anger, confusion… of all emotion. His left hand was limp against the floor. His right hand still somehow clutched his chest, like in his last moments he had been in tremendous pain.

Scotty looked back down to McCoy, the doctor looking up anxiously. “I found him.”

McCoy’s face turned ashen, but nodded. “Go up, I will follow, and we’ll get him down.”

After a few seconds of exertion, both Scotty and McCoy were beside their friend’s body, McCoy cursing as his scanner failed him in the murky radiation contamination. “I’ll get to this after we’re out of this hell hole. I can only confirm he fell rather hard and just couldn’t get up any longer. I’ll have more later.”

Scotty pushed aside his grief, knowing they needed to move, fast. With McCoy’s help, they gently picked up Kirk’s body, lowering it to the others below. They climbed down as the rest headed for the containment room. It was going to be a tight fit, but it was worth it.

Once they were all inside the containment room, waiting for the room to clear them, as Chekov was handling controls outside the room, McCoy brought out his scanner again, his fingers at Kirk’s carotid, praying, wishing there was a pulse. He had managed to have Kirk’s torso on his own person as Scotty held onto Kirks’ legs for dear life.

What he saw on his scanner did not please him. Kirk was dead, but the radiation still worked on his internal organs, his skin, breaking down what was left of him.

 McCoy felt nauseous as he sat there, holding his friend’s body, no hope left. Nothing would ever allow his friend to open his eyes again. He wouldn’t talk, walk, annoy the shit out of his doctor… wouldn’t be Captain. Wouldn’t manage the _Enterprise_ like she was the golden lady he had always dreamed of.

Every dream, wasted. Every dream, a loss. Every hope, vanished. There was nothing else left to be happy about.

Jim Kirk was dead.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel comfortable leaving it at that. I imagine... I imagine the movie actually can continue exactly the way it did, with the Tribble and Spock beating Khan to pieces and saving Kirk.
> 
> Or... he could even stay dead.
> 
> That I think I will leave up to you to decide :)


End file.
